3 Important Factors on the Spiritual Path
Patience, Guidance & Surrender
We must have an immense thirst to grow, develop and reach our ultimate goal of real happiness. The state of real happiness and peacefulness is our real home, even though we now may be very far from this home. To find true meaning, we must be humble, sincere and wholeheartedly committed to our inner search. Driven by pure longing and craving, we can progress spiritually; yet, above all these, what we need is the willingness to trust and surrender.
Spiritual Master
“Salutations to the Guru who rescues from the darkness of ignorance and restores the vision of knowledge and of the Truth”.
Guru Stotram – A Sanskrit chant of respect, admiration and love for the Master
The spiritual master is the Divine principle; the guidance itself, which can take upon any form or be expressed in any way.
Many times, the Guru is experienced through a particular body or teaching; but, it is neither the person nor the doctrine that the term
Guru is referring to, but to the actual guiding principal. Real wisdom can manifest in endless ways, which can lead us to the light or to the inner truth.
The eternal Guru
The Sanskrit term for a spiritual master is ‘Guru’, composed of the two parts: Gu– darkness and Ru– light; the Guru is that which takes one from the darkness into the light.
The western world has distorted the term ‘Guru’ thoroughly, associated it with cults, blind faith and god-knows-what. In India, traditionally, and also nowadays, our parents are considered to be our first Gurus, as they are our primal guidance into this world. Any spiritual master or revered teacher is referred to as a Guru.
To truly grow, we need to learn from everything, we need to make every moment and event a lesson and use it for our ‘upliftment’.
Divine Grace
It is said that when the student is ready, the right teacher will manifest. Having a teacher or doctrine we are connected to, who we honestly feel leads us in the right direction, will greatly help our progress along the path. Direct connection, and preferably a deep relationship with God, a perfect spiritual master or a holy and transforming place, can help us evolve on the path faster than normally possible alone. This direct connection acts as pure Divine grace that transforms us.
“Once we take refuge in God, there is nothing to fear. God will look after everything.
There is a children’s game called ‘tag’. One child chases the others and tries to evade the child’s touch. If any of the children touch a designated “safe” area they can’t be ‘tagged’. Likewise, if we hold onto God, no one can do anything to us” Amma (The hugging Saint)
